Fastener package and method of preparing such package



Nov; 4 1924.

A. LATHAM FASTENER PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PREPARING SUCH PACKAGE Filed Sept. 29. 1919 2 Sl'1ee1 %-Shee.?- l

Nov. 4 1924.

A. LATHAM FASTENER PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PREPARING SUCH PACKAGE 2 Sheets- Sheet 2.

Filed Sept. 29 1919 Patented Nov. 4, 1924.

UNH'ED STAT-LES l,il.3,83l

PATENT @FFEQE.

ALBERT LATHAM, OE BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TO AMERICAN BUTTON & FASTENER (30., OF AUGUSTA, MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

FASTENER PACKAGE AND METHOD OF PREPARING EUGH PACKAGE.

Application filed September 29, 1919. Serial No. 327,176.

T 0 all 1072 omit may concern.

Be it known that I, ALBERT LATHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of Essex and State of l\'lassachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Fastener Packages and Methods of Preparing Such Packages, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawing indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to fastener packages and to methods of preparing them.

It more particularly concerns such an assemblage of buttons and their staples, or other securing devices, as is described in the patent issued to William E. Elliott on July Objects of the invention are to produte a package of this character in which the fasteners are effectively mounted in their supporting strip or other holder in accu rately spaced relation, and in such a manner that they are securely retained against acci-- dental displacement, yet may readily be removed for use, as in an attaching machine, without the production of shreds of the mounting which tend to clog the machine.

In the accomplishment of these objects, a feature of the invention consists of a novel mounting having a plurality of fastener-receiving openings with their edges substantially separated with a slit having its edges in substantial contact connecting the openings. In these openings the fasteners are held for removal through the slits. For the reception of staples, as shown, openings and connecting slits are provided in pairs, the legs of the staples extending through the openings at one side of the slits. As herein illustrated, these staple openings lieat opposite sides of a corrugation formed in the mounting independently of thep'resence of the staples, the slits ex;- tending across the corrugation. The openings preferably correspond in form to the portions of the fasteners passing through them, and are of somewhat less-normal diameter than the received elements. With the arrangement as outlined, the fasteners are grasped firmly by the mounting with: out material distortion of the latter and =without tendency of said mounting itself to force the fasteners from their places. When the fasteners are removed, the mounting yields without tearing.

To facilitate the introduction of the fas teners, especially buttons, as a feature of the invention, I furnish depressions in the mounting adjacent to the fastenerdeceiving perforations. These depressions are here shown as between the openings and at each side of the connecting slit. A button eye easily enters these depressions and is guided into place in its openings.

A further feature of the invention is found in a mounting impregnated with a stiffening substance, this {substance being not only contained within the body of the mounting, but also upon the edges of its perforations. By it the material of which the mounting is formed is rendered more resilient, admitting the fasteners to the openings without permanent distortion, holding them firmly in place, and yielding without tearing when the fasteners are removed. At the edges of the perforations, especially of the slits, the stiffening substance acts as an adhesive to more positively seal the fasteners in the perforations so they shall not be displaced in handling.

To more perfectly impregnate the mounting and increase its resilience, it is subjected successively to the action of the stiffening substance or sizing, preferably at different temperatures; first, one which will effectively penetrate the material. and then to a lower temperature which will coat the surfaces and complete this treatment. During both applications, the sizing may be rubbed into the mounting to facilitate its absorption. 1 also prefer to make a final application of the substance after the receiving perforations have been formed and the fastener or fasteners mounted therein. this being for the purpose of stiffening the softened edges of the perforations and t ieir associated fastener-engaging proj ctions, and to furnish the seal previously referred to.

To prevent interference between closcl; placed perforating instrumentalities, feature of the invention, 1 produce portions of the perforations, forming first the openings and then the slits between different pairs of openings, as those for the button eyes and staple legs.

Still another feature of the invention cousists in forming in the mounting, in addition to the perforations, the associated depressions to facilitate the introduction of the fasteners. After the fasteners have been inserted, these depressions may be raised or forced in to more securely retain the fasteners, and I prefer to apply the sealing coating of sizing to the mounting simultaneously with this raising of the depressions.

To insure the retention of form of the corrugations during the process of preparing the package, I provide, as a feature of the invention, for producing a corrugation and thereafter reforming it. As the mounting is subjected to tension in its advance for the operations upon it, this step restores the shape which might be impaired by the pull. As shown herein, the tensioning force and reforming pressure are applied simultaneously.

An additional feature of the invention,

in connection with the packaging of fasteners this invention in a series upon a strip, involves the preparation of a strip wider than the mounting strip for the reception ofeach series of fasteners, the division of the strip into a plurality of separate mounting strips and the application of fasteners to said strip. By this procedure, operations upon the packages, such as perforating for the reception of the fasteners and sizing to stiffen the material of the mountings, are considerably facilitated.

Illustration of these and other features of the invention is given in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows in broken side elevation the earlier steps of preparing the package of Fig. 2 illustrates similarly succeeding steps;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the multiple mounting strip during its formation;

l is a sectional detail of the depressing die; I

Fig. 5 shows in side elevation a button staple assembled;

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 illustrate similarly ces'sive steps of mounting the staples buttons upon the strip;

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section on the o t of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 shows in side elevation the steps succeeding those illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5 to 8;

Fig. 11 is a transverse sectional detail,

and

sucand line enlarged, of the button eye after it has been introduced through the depression into its openings and connecting slit;

Fig. 12 shows in transverse section the effect of the steps illustrated in Fig 10; and

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of means for carrying out the last step of the method. The package of this invention and its constituent mounting are best disclosed in Figs. 3, 8, 9 and 13 of the drawings, Fig. 13 illustrating the complete article. It comprises a strip or ribbon 20 of suitable flexible material, as paper, impregnated with a stiffening substance or sizing, and may be a divided portion of a wider strip 22. Disposed longitudinally of the strip are uniformly spaced groups of perforations consisting of a plurality of pairs of open ings, the elements of each pair being separated from one another in the direction of the axis of the strip. The openings are preferably circular, being of the same "shape as cross-sections of the fastener elements to be with the pair of openings 26, 26, a perfora-- tion 28, which may also be in the form of a circular opening, for engagement by mechanism in feeding the strip. Connecting the pairs of openings 24:, 24: are straight slits 30, and between the openings 26 of each pair are like slits 32. The form of each complete perforation, then, consists of two circular spaces from which the material of the mounting strip is removed, with a division between points on the peripheries of the circles nearest one another along which the material is cut, but withv the opposed edges remaining in contact. The material at each side of the slit provides a tongue, which, in the case of the staple legs, rests upon them, retaining them in place, while with the button eye the tongues pass through its opening, looking it upon the strip. The diameter of both the openings 24 and 26 is preferably somewhat less than the respective staple and button parts which are to be received by them. The difference in diameter is such that the elements held will be frictionally engaged to retain them against displacement, though not requiring any material distortion of the mounting when they are introduced. Between the openings of the pairs 24, 24, lyingtrans versely of the strip, is a corrugation 34, the

slits 30 joining the openings extending across this corrugation. This is to provide for the meeting of the opposed'lips over the staple legs without a normal displacing stress upon them. Between the openings of the pair 26 at each side of the slit 32 is a and 11. lVith these depresguides the eye toward the slit and yields without danger of breaking the material.

Through the openings 24, 24 pass the legs of staples 38, the connecting slits lying parallel to the axes of the legs and meeting over them, as has already been pointed out. Near the points of the staple legs,at their inner sides, I prefer to form barbs or projections 40, which, with the staples positioned in the mounting, serve by their engagement with the material thereof to prevent the staples from being accidentally drawn out, and also render them more secure when they are set in the work to which the buttons are to be attached. The yoke of the staple is threaded through the eye a2 of a button as. The sides of the eye are received by the openings 26, and the connecting portion of the eye opposite the head enters the slit 32, the lips of which close behind it, the connecting portion: and button head lying at opposite sides of the mounting. \Vith the staple and button in place, the depressions 32 are brought into the plane of the body of the strip, and a coating of sizing seals the adjacent. edges of both the slits and 32 to one another. The strip with its buttons and staples is formed into a coil upon a suitable reel 46, ready for application to a button-attaching machine.

In the preparation of the package, the wide strip 22 is mounted upon a reel 48, from which it is drawn by a pair of positively driven feed rolls 50, (Fig. 1). Between the reel and feed rolls the strip is passed successively through compartments 52 and 54 0f a tank containing'a suitable sizing or stiffening substance. A compound which may be employed for this purpose consists of a mixture of one part of raw linseed oil and fifteen parts of commercial shellac, which is made by dissolving two pounds of .dry shellac in one gallon of methyl alcohol. Raw oil is preferable to boiled oil in this connection, because, while giving with the shellac sufiicient stiffness to the lips of the perforations, it produces a greater flexibility. A more rapidly drying substance which may be utilized is known as Japan oil size. In its passage through the tank, the strip is supported upon guide rolls 56 and 58, journaled respectively at the end of the tank adjacent to the reel 48 and between the compartments 52 and 54, both these guide rolls being at the upper edge of the tank. Fulcrumedat each-end of the tank is a lever 60 of the bell-crank type, each of these levers having an arm extending into one of the tank compartments and there carrying a roll 62 beneath which the strip passes. Each lever also-has anopposite arm extending outside the tank and there is rotatably mounted upon it a nut 6% engaging a threaded rod 66 pivoted at 68 upon the tank wall. By turning these nuts, the rolls 62 may be raised from and lowered into the sizing in the compartments, permitting the strip to be conveniently passed beneath them at the beginning of the operation, and then submerged in the sizing. In each compartment the strip travels between opposite contact members 70, 70, which may be faced with some such yieldable material as rubber. These serve to work the sizing into the strip, and the members in the compartment 54. have the additional function of removing the excess of sizing as the strip emerges. The compartment 52 is preferably heated, as indicated at 72, while the companion compartrnent 5ais at a lower temperature. The heated sizing more readily penetrates the structure of the strip to thoroughly impregnate it, while the cooler sizing effectively coats the exterior and completes this stiffening operation. Rotatable upon standards above the tank are guide rolls 74, 76, the strip passing from the feed rolls 50 across the tank to the roll 74 and then returning to the roll 7 6, thus giving, if necessary, the sizing an opportunity to set. From the roll 76 the strip is received by a reel 78, which is rotated from any convenient source of power through a friction device 80. The reel 78, being driven at a somewhat greater initial speed than that at which the strip is advanced by the feed rolls 50, insures that the slack shall be taken up at all times in the winding of the strip.

The reel of the sized mounting is then placed upon standards 82 (Fig. 2) and led between rolls 84c, 84, having at their peripheries projections 85 registering in the rotation of the rolls. so that these projec tions, contacting with the strip, advance it intermittently, intermediate depressions permitting it to rest at the intervals. The rolls 84, 8a, are rotated step by step through an angular distance equal to that subtended by a projectionand its adjacent depression to produce an intermittent feed of the strip, by some such mechanism as an arm 86 mounted to oscillate about the axis of one of the rolls, which is in turn geared to the companion roll, the arm being connected to the first-mentioned roll by a one-way clutch 88. The oscillation of the arm is conveniently produced from a driving shaft 90 through connecting rods 92 and 94. The l strip is advanced from the feed rolls 8%:

beneath rotary trimming knives 96, which cut off'the edges and reduce it to the exact width desired, and across ahorizontal'bed 98. Above this bed a shaft is journaled in a frame 102-and has fast upon it apulley 10-1 belted to a source of power. The shaft operates, as by an eccentric, a head 106 mounted to reciprocate vertically in the frame toward and from the bed and carrying, arranged in series in the direction of mon to all the series, then a group of punches 110 for forming the openings 24,

26 and 28, then in succession knives 112 and a knife 114 to cut, respectively, the slits 30 and 32, then a corrugating die 116 for the production of the corrugation 34, then a die 118 to make the depressions 36, and finally a strip-dividing knife 119. This knife has at its forward extremity a depending point 120, the length of which is such that it is never entirely withdrawn from the strip. To the rear of this is a horizontal cutting edge 122. The total length of the knife is greater than the extent of each step of feed. This arrangement insures an uninterrupted cut.

At the opposite side of the bed 98 and its strip-forming instrumentalities from the rolls 84, 84 are feed rolls 124, 124, geared to operate together and rotated intermittently to an angular extent somewhat less than the movement imparted to the rolls 84 by an arm 126 joined to the connecting rod 92 acting upon one of the rolls 124 through a one-way clutch, similarly to the arm 86. The feed imparted to the strip by the rolls 124, 124 is exactly that necessary to advance it the mean distance between the fastener positions, so that the punches, knives and dies of the series carried by the head 106 and spaced from one another by the same distance will, for each operation of said head, each effect its particular forming operation upon a series of fastening po-' 811310115, and then upon the succeeding step in the feed will each act upon the next position. One of the rolls 124, here shown as the upper, has peripheral series of pins 128 with co-operating depressions in the opposite roll. These pins engage one by one the openings 28 in the strip to cause positively,

without slip, the correct amount of advance of the strip. As the strip travels forward,

it drags slightly upon the presser foot 108,

causing the excess fed by the rolls 84 over that of the rolls 124 to be retained at the side toward the first-mentioned rolls. Then in the operation of the head 106 the presser foot descends to clamp the strip upon the bed 98, maintaining this excess at the side toward the rolls 84, 84 and holding the strip At this tautacross the forming means. time, the spaces between the feeding pro-.

jections 85 upon the rolls 84 are opposite the strip, and the excess fed by them is permitted to straighten itself between the rolls toward the reel 80 in preparation for the next step of feed by the roll projections.

Upon each lowering of the head by the cam on the shaft 100, there is produced in the strip, first, the openings 24, and 28 by -as that previously employed.

the punches 110, then upon the next step the slits 30 by the knives 112, then the slits 32 by the knives 114, and finally the corrugation 34 and the depressions '36 by the dies 116 and 118. After the multiple strip. has thus been completely formed, it is severed into the individual mounting strips in its passage beneath the knives 119. Since the strip, during the forming operation, is clamped by the presser foot 108, the slack necessary for the production of the corrugation 34 is always taken from the left, as viewed in Fig. 2 of the drawings, insuring a constant spacing between successive corrugations. As the action of the rolls 124, 124 in feeding the strip may flatten and deform the corrugation produced by'the die 116, I prefer to recorrugate the strip as the pins 128 complete their feeding action. This is accomplished by dies consisting of a peripheral series of bars 130 carried upon the upper roll 124 adjacent to the pins 128 and co-operating with series of peripheral depressions in the lower roll. As the strip is carried forward under the tension pr-obuttons. First these fastening elements are assembled as viewed in Fig. 5 of the drawings, the staple being threaded through the button eye. The strip is then bent at the corrugation, as indicated in Fig. 6, and the staple legs alined with the pairs of openings 24 and thrust through them. After this the strip and button are brought together, the latter entering the depressions 36 and being carried into the slit 32, the sides of which are temporarily separated to admit the sides of the eye to the openings 26, said slits closing together after the eye has passed between them. This brings the parts into the relation illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawings, the positioning of the fastener upon the strip being completed. After this mounting of the fasteners, the package strip is run beneath a grooved guide roll 138, with which it contacts on the side at which the button heads are located, directing the opposite side of the strip over a rotatable brush 140 supplied by a roll 142 with a sizing or stiffening substance, which may be the same The brush preferably has groups of bristles 144, 144 separated from one another upon the brush core and converging in such a manner that, while cont-acting but slightly with the button eyes, it works over the entire areas occupied by the groups of perforations, meeting at the button eye slits 32. This is best illustrated in Fig. 12 of the drawings. The effect of this brush is to force up the portions of the strip depressed at into the general plane of the strip, and at the same time to distrib ute size over the perforated surface. This coats the edges which have been cut in forming the perforations and tends to make the lips adhere to one another to seal the perforations over the button eyes and staplelegs. The formation of the package is completed by winding the strip upon the pack-- age reel 46, which may be then suitably wrapped or covered, when it is ready for shipment and utilization in a button-setting machine.

Vhile it is believed that my improved package, its elements and the method of assembling will be clearly understood from what has already been said, it is desired to lay stress upon certain useful features and steps. The preparation of the multiple strip and its subsequent division simultaneously with its perforation reduces the time necessary to perform the operations and makes exact the width of the individual mounting strips and the placing thereon of the perforations. The presence of the guide depressions for the button eyes facilitates the introduction of the latter and lessensthe danger of tearing or permanently deforming the button-retaining lips. The openings which receive the staples and buttons, because of their relative size, permit the latter to enter without material distortion, yet exert a considerable frictional retaining force in directions substantially at right angles to the fastener elements, and therefore without components tending to displace the fasteners. The lips of mounting material formed at each side of the slits look through the button eyes and across the staple legs and, because of the preliminary sizing and consequent stiffening of the material, offer much resistance to the dislodging stresses" incident to handling the package, while they yield to release the fasteners upon properly applying a stripping force. The second sizing, by stifiening the edges distorted in the production of the perforations and applying a seal to these edges, much increases the security of the effect of normal retention. In the removal of the fasteners from the mounting for utilization, the presence of the slits through which the fastener elements are withdrawn, the form of the receiving openings, which are without angles at which rupture may readily start, and the flexibility and tenacity of the sized material, prevent tearing and the consequent formation of loose particles of the mounting material.

Herein there is illustrated in part, though not claimed, the machine for producing the package-strip, such machine being made the subject of an application Ser. No. 358,962, for improvements in forming machines, filed in the name of Albert Latha-m on February 16, 1920.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

i. A fastener mounting having a plurality of pairs of openings with a slit connecting each pair of openings, the plural pairs of openings being arranged to co-operate for the reception of a single fastener.

2. A fastener mounting having a corrugation with an opening at each side of the corrugation, and each opening extending through the mounting between its opposite faces, said corrugation being formed in the mounting independently of the presence of the fastener and the openings being arranged to receive a fastener.

3. A fastener mounting having a corrugation with an opening at each side of the corrugation, and a slit connecting the openings across the corrugation, the openings being arranged to receive av fastener.

4. A fastener mounting having a cor rugation with an opening at each side of the corrugation, a slit connecting the openings across the corrugation, and openings and a connecting slit at one side of the corrugation.

5. A fastener mounting having a plurality of fastener-receiving openings with a slit connecting the openings, and a depression between the openings.

6. A fastener mounting having a plurality of fastenenreceiving openings with a slit connecting the openings, and a depression at each side of the slit.

. 7. A fastener mounting having a fastenerreceiving slit with its edges in substantial contact, and a depression adjacent to the slit.

8. A fastener mounting having a fastener receiving slit with its edges in substantial contact, and a depression at each side of the slit.

9. A fastener mounting having a corrugation with an opening at each side of the corrugation, a slit connecting the openings across the corrugation, and openings and a connecting slit at one side of the corrugation, there being a depression at each side of the last-mentioned openings.

10. A fastener package comprising a. mounting having adjacentpairs of openings with a straight slit connecting the: openings of each pair, and a staple having its legs extending through the openings and lying at one side of the slits and parallel thereto.

11. A fastener package comprising a mounting having a corrugation and openings arranged in pairs at opposite sides of the corrugation, there being a slit connecting the openings of each pair across the corrugation, and a staple having its legs extending through the openings and lying substantially parallel to the slits.

12. A fastener package comprising a mounting having a. corrugation and openings arranged in pairs at opposite sides of the corrugation, there being a slit connecting the openings of each pair across the corrugation, the mounting being also provided with a pair of openings and a connecting slit at one side of the corrugation, a staple having its legs extending through the first mentioned openings and lying substantially parallel to their slits, and a button through the eye of which the staple passes, the sides of the eye. bein held in the second mentioned openings at one side of their slit.

13. A fastener package comprising a mounting having spaced openings formed therein, a slit connecting the openings, and a fastener having a portion extending through each opening, the normal diameter of the openings being less than that of the received port-ions of the fastener.

14. A fastener package comprising a mounting having a plurality of openings with a slit connecting the openings, and a button provided with a head and eye and having the sides of said eye corresponding in form to the openings and held therein, the normal diameter of the openings being less than that of the material forming the button eye.

15. A fastener package comprising a mounting having adjacent pairs of openings with a slit connecting the openings of each pair, and a staple having its legs extending through'the openings and lying at one side of the slits, the normal diameter of the openings being less than that of the staple legs.

16. A fastener mounting having a perforation to receive the fastener and being impregnated with a stiffening substance, the perforation also bearing upon its edge a coating of a stiffening substance.

17. A fastener package comprising a mounting having a perforation with adjacent edges, a fastener retained upon the mounting by said. edges, and a seal for the edges.

18. A fastener package comprising a mounting having a perforation with adjacent edges, a fastener retained upon the mounting by said edges, and an adhesive connecting the edges.

19. The method of preparing a package of fasteners, which consists in subjecting the mounting to the action of a stiffening substance, forming in the mounting fastenerreceiving perforations, and thereafter applying the fasteners to the perforations.

20. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners, which consists in successively subjecting the mounting to the action of a stiffening substance, each application of the stiffening substance acting toincrease the resilience of the mounting, and forming in the mounting fastener-receiving perforations, having associated with them resilient fastener-engaging projections.

21. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners, which consists in successively subjecting the mounting to the action of a stiffening substance, each application of the stiffening substance acting to increase the resilience of the mounting, rubbing said stiffening substance into the mounting after each application, and forming in the mounting fastener-receiving perforations having associated with them'resilient fastener-engaging projections.

22. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners,wl1ich consists in forming in the mounting fastener-receiving perforations, and thereafter subjecting the mount ing to the action of a stiffening substance.

23. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners, which. consists in subjecting the mounting to the action of a stiffening substance, forming in the mounting fastener-receiving perforations, and again subj ecting the mounting to the action of a stiffening substance.

24.. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners, which consists in forming in the mounting a plurality of pairs of separated openings, slitting the mounting between a pair of openings, and then slitting the mounting between another pair of openings.

25. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners, which consists in forming in the mounting a perforation including openin s and a connectin slit one ortion of the,

perforation being first formed and thereafter another portion, and forming in the mounting a corrugation crossing the slit between the openings.

26. The method of'preparing a mounting for fasteners, which consists in subjecting the mounting to the action of a stiffening substance, forming in the stiffened mounting a perforation, and producing in such mounting a depression at each side of the perforation.

27. The method of preparing a mounting for, fasteners, which consists in subjecting the mounting to the action of a stiffening substance, forming in the stiffened mounting a perforation including openings and a connecting slit, and producing in such mounting a depression at each side of the slit.

28. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners, which consists in forming in the mounting a corrugation, further operating upon the mounting, and thereafter res forming the corrugation.

29. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners, which consists informing in the mounting a corrugation, subjecting the corrugated mounting to tension, and there-' after reforming the corrugation.

30. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners, which consists in forming in the mounting a corrugation, and simultaneously subjecting the corrugated mounting to tension and pressure, said pressure acting to reform the previously formed corrugation.

31. The method of preparing a fastener package, which consists in sizing a mounting strip, applying fasteners to the sized strip, and again sizing the strip.

32. The method of preparing a fastener package, which consists in sizing a mounting strip, perforating the sized strip inclependently of the fasteners, and inserting fasteners in the perforations previously formed.

33. The method of preparing a fastener package, which consists in sizing a mounting strip, perforating the sized strip, inserting fasteners in the perforations, and again sizing the strip.

34. The method of preparing a fastener package, which consists in perforating a mounting strip, depressing the strip adjacent to the perforation, inserting a fastener in the perforation, and forcing in the depression.

35. The method of preparing a fastener package, which consists in perforating a mounting strip, depressing the strip adjacent to the perforation, inserting a fastener in the perforation, forcing in the depression, and applying size to the strip.

36. The method of preparing a fastener package, which consists in perforating a mounting strip, depressing the strip adjacent to the perforation, inserting a fastener in the perforation, and simultaneously raising the depressions and sizing the strip.

37. The method of preparing a package of fasteners mounted in a series upon a strip, which consists in preparing a strip wider than the mounting strip for the reception of a series of fasteners, dividing the strip into a. plurality of mounting strips, and applying fasteners to each of said mounting strips.

38. The method of preparing a package of fasteners mounted in a series upon a strip, which consists in forming in a strip wider than the mounting strip plural series of fastener-receiving perforations, dividing the strip into plural mounting strips each having a. series of fastener-receiving perforations, and inserting fasteners in the perforations.

39. The method of preparing a package of fasteners mounted in a. series upon a strip, which consists in sizing a. strip wider than the mounting s, rip, providing said strip with a plurality of series of fastenerreceiving perforations, dividing the strip into plural mounting strips each having a series of fastener-receiving perforations, and inserting fasteners in the perforations.

40. The method of preparing a package of fasteners mounted in a series upon a strip, which consists in sizing a strip wider than the mounting strip, providing said strip with a. plurality of series of fastenerreceiving perforations, dividing the strip into plural mounting strips each having a series of fastener-receiving perforations, inserting fasteners in the perforations, and again sizing the strip.

41. The method of preparing a package including buttons and staples assembled upon a strip, which consists in forming in the strip a series of perforations comprising pairs of openings with slits connecting openings, and inserting the staple legs through pairs of adjacent openings. and the button eyes through intermediate openings.

42. The method of preparing a package including buttons and staples assembled upon a strip, which consists in sizing the strip, forming in the strip a series of perforations comprising pairs of openings with slits connecting the. openings, and inserting the staple legs through pairs of adjacent openings and the button eyes through inter,- mediate openings.

43. The method of preparing a package including buttons and staples assembled upon a strip, which consists in sizing the strip upon both sides, forming in the strip a series of perforations comprising pairs of openings With slits connecting the openings, inserting the staple legs through pairs of adjacent openings and the button eyes through intermediate openings, and applying sizing to one side of the strip.

44. The method of preparing a package of staples mounted upon a strip, which consists in forming in the strip pairs of openings with slits connecting the openings, corrugating the strip between the openings across the slits, and inserting the staples in the openings.

4!. The method of preparing a package of staples mounted upon a. strip. which consists in forming openings in the strip of less diameter than the staple legs, forming projections upon the staple legs, and forcing said staple legs into the openings.

46. The method of preparing a fastener package, Which consists in perforating a sheet, inserting fasteners in the perforations and sizing the sheet.

47. The method of preparing a package including buttons and staples assembled upon a sheet, which consists in forming in the sheet a series of perforations comprising pairs of openings with slits connecting the openings, inserting the staple-legs through pairs of adjacent openings and the buttoneyes through intermediate openings, and sizing the sheet.

$8. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners, Which consists in rendering the mounting resilient by impregnating it with a stiffening substance and then apply ing a. coating of the stiffening substance to the impregnated mounting and thereby rendering it more resilient, and forming in the mounting fastener-receiving perforations having associated with them resilient fastener-engaging projections.

49. The method of preparing a mounting for fasteners which consists in rendering 15 the mounting resilient by impregnating it.

With a stiffening substance and then applydering it more resilient, the first operation 20 being performed at a higher teniperature than the succeeding treatment, and forming in. the mounting fastener-receiving erforations having associated With them resilient fastener-engaging projections.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ALBERT LATHAM. 

